'We're so lucky:' 12-year-old Salem boy who suffered heart attack, collapsed at basketball practice will make full recovery

View full sizeBruce Ely/The OregonianIsaac Arzate, a sixth-grader at Salem's Stephens Middle School, suffered a heart attack and collapsed at a basketball practice Jan. 6. His coaches immediately began CPR, which doctors said saved the boy's life. "We're thankful, but that doesn't seem like enough," said his mother, Lindsay Wiens.

Isaac Arzate might be one of the only 12-year-olds in Salem who wants to go
back to school.

"They weren't sure what kind of state he was going to be in when he did
wake up," Wiens said.

Brain damage is a major concern in cardiac incidents like Isaac's, said Dr.
Seshadri Balaji, a pediatric cardiologist at OHSU Hospital.

"Every minute and every second counts," he said. "If you can shock them out
of it within the first five minutes -- the longer you go from there, the more
brain damage."

But when Isaac regained consciousness three days later, he had no brain
damage. He underwent open-heart surgery Jan. 13 and was released five days
later.

It turned out that one of the blood vessels stemming from Isaac's aorta
didn't come from the right place and wound around his heart, causing the attack.
Although it's not a hereditary defect, Balaji said, it is one of the most common
causes for heart attacks in young people.

But it's difficult to identify on even the most sophisticated screenings,
he said, meaning the immediate CPR and prompt response saved Isaac.

His parents said they didn't have the words to thank the two coaches.

"We can say, 'Thank you,' over and over again," Wiens said. Her husband
interrupted: "How do you repay someone who saved your son's life?"

Isaac was in the hospital when his family learned about Cody Sherrell, the
14-year-old from La Center, Wash., who went into cardiac arrest at a basketball
practice three days before Isaac did. Cody died Jan. 10.

His coaches also performed CPR and used a defibrillator, but it took
paramedics and doctors an hour to return his heart to a regular rhythm.

"I think about that all the time," Wiens said. "That family is there,
somewhere, mourning their son."

For now, Isaac is resting at home. He has gone to Stephens Middle School to
pick up books and see friends, but is waiting for his doctors and parents to let
him return to class.

The Los Angeles Lakers fan also said he's ready to play again, but he has
to wait six to eight weeks following surgery before easing back into sports.